For convenience in handling and to minimize injury, poultry is usually shipped in cages or coops, each holding a plurality of chickens, for example from six to fifteen. These coops are conventionally of wire or wooden lattice work construction throughout with heavy wood rectangular frames strong enough to bear the weight of other cages stacked to a height of six to eight feet, or higher. More recently, it has become known to fabricate animal transport or poultry coops in the form of integrally molded plastic structures consisting of a lightweight and high impact synthetic plastic material, such as for example polyethylene or polypropylene. Such coops essentially comprise a plurality of sidewalls joined to generally planar upper and lower wall sections to define an enclosure for the poultry. Also, the coops generally include an access opening in one of the walls (usually the upper wall) through which the live poultry is placed into the coops. Hinged lids or doors are also provided for closing the access opening to prevent loss of poultry during shipment.
In order to maximize the number of coops, and thus the number of animals which may be transported, it is desired to stack or arrange the coops in the most compact arrangement, and in particular to provide for vertical and lateral stackability of the coops. However, as can be appreciated, the higher the vertical stack of coops, the greater weight which is placed on the lowermost coops in the stack. For instance, with ten coops stacked vertically on top of one another and each coop loaded with poultry weighing approximately seventy to seventy-five pounds, the lowermost coop in the stack would have to be capable of bearing a weight on the order of 700 pounds. This weight results not only from the weight of the coops themselves, but also from the weight of the poultry enclosed therein. Still further, when the coops are loaded onto the transport vehicle, chains or straps are placed over the top of the vertically stacked coops and tightly secured to the vehicle to prevent the coops from falling off the vehicle during transport, thereby further increasing the downwardly directed load on the coops. With many prior art arrangements the entire downwardly directed load is somewhat evenly distributed across the entire coop such that the bottom or lower wall section of the coops tends to sag or bow downwardly against the upper wall section of the immediately beneath coop. Additionally, this may cause sagging or bowing of the sidewalls also. This is particularly a problem on hot summer days with coops made of plastic since the plastic may soften and sag under the heat and load applied to the coops. Since the poultry is often tightly compacted in a small space or enclosure (for example fifteen chickens in a two foot by two foot by four foot cage), this sagging can result in damage to the chickens or other poultry housed therewithin and/or damage to the coops themselves so that they can not be readily reused. A further consideration in this regadrd is the fact that it is desired to maximize the open space of the walls of the coop in order to provide for maximization of air flow into the coop so that healthy live poultry is delivered to the slaughtering or processing plant. Thus, while some of these problems of sagging could be minimized with relatively closed, substantial bottom wall sections and top wall sections to provide for increased structural support, there would be a consequent minimization of open area for air flow therethrough which is most undesirable.
Another problem experienced with prior art poultry coops has been the loss or damage of poultry at the breeding farm when the poultry are placed in the coops and loaded on the transport vehicle. Specifically, in order to provide for ease in handling of the coops by the personnel who collect and place the poultry into the coops, the coops are generally individually loaded and then a plurality placed on a pallet or other support structure in a stacked arrangement. Thereafter the plurality of coops are then loaded onto the transport vehicle by means of a forklift or open bed truck. Since the coops are not firmly held in place in the stacked arrangement on the forklift or open bed truck, the coops tend to fall from the stack, thereby resulting in damaged and/or lost poultry. While prior art coop arrangements have provided means for increasing the vertical stackability and maintaining the vertical stacks during the collection and loading operations, prior art arrangements have not provided for any lateral interlocking of the coops to prevent spilling or tipping of the coops during loading, and in particular have not provided for relatively simple locking means or devices on the coops which does not require great care, skill or time in locking the coops in a lateral arrangement or stack.
A further drawback of the prior art devices relates to the doors or lids which are hingedly supported on the coops to close the access opening. Oftentimes with plastic coops and doors, metal hinge pins or bars have been utilized about which the plastic hinge members rotate. However, after some use, because of the incompatibility of the plastic and the metal, the plastic hinge members often break. As can be appreciated, if the doors become lost during transport or do not properly function, poultry may be lost, and further, the reusability of the coop is limited. Therefore, it will be appreciated that it is desired to provide for a convenient hinge mechanism which is relatively inexpensive and which has a useful life corresponding to the intended life of the coops.
These and further disadvantages of the prior art are overcome with the improved stackable poultry coop in accordance with the present invention.